U.S. doctor
calls for universal circumcision

By: Patricia
Reaney

Broadcasted on
BICNews 23 September 1997

LONDON (Reuter) - A U.S. doctor called for universal circumcision in
Europe Wednesday, saying the health benefits outweigh any of the complications or costs of
the operation.

In a report in the Archives of
Disease in Childhood, Dr. Edgar Schoen argued that newborn circumcision offered increased
protection against urinary tract infections (UTI), cancer of the penis, and sexually
transmitted diseases such as the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
``Protection against these diseases constitutes a substantial public
health advantage and provides a strong argument in favor of instituting universal newborn
circumcision in Europe,'' he said.

Schoen, of the Kaiser Foundation
Research Institute in Oakland, Ca., said circumcision is a quick, easy and safe procedure
which is completely safe when done properly.

But Angus Nicoll, a doctor at the
Communicable Disease Surveillance Center in London, was not convinced.

``There is a small but persistent
complication rate from male circumcision and the public health value of a routine
circumcision policy has not been proved,'' he said in a separate study.

Unlike the United States where 70
percent of men are circumcised, most men in Europe, where it is done mainly for religious
or ethnic reasons, are not.

European countries consider it an
unnecessary surgical procedure which increases the costs of operating nationalized health
systems.

The medical profession has been
split over the benefits of the operation and parents have agonized over the pros and cons.

Advocates say it helps to promote
genital hygiene which can reduce the transmission of infections as well as herpes and
other viruses, but opponents claim that it is painful, that there is no medical or
surgical reason for it and that modern men can bathe with ease.

Schoen said statistics in the
United States show that of the 1,600 patients diagnosed with penis cancer in the last 50
years none had been circumcised since infancy. On average there is only one case of the
rare disease reported in a circumcised male about every five years, compared to 2.2 in
other men.

A report by the American Society
of Pediatrics also suggested that uncircumcised boys had an increased risk of UTI because
harmful bacteria can grow under the foreskin.

``A meta-analysis of the nine
major studies relating UTI to circumcision showed a mean 12-fold increase risk of UTI in
uncircumcised boys,'' said Schoen.

Studies in Africa, which
indicated that uncircumcised, heterosexual men were four to eight times more likely than
circumcised men to contract HIV from exposure to infected women, offered further proof.

In addition to the medical
benefits, Schoen said circumcision does not have any effect on either emotional health or
sexual performance, and even offered other advantages.

Evidence from Middle America
shows women have a sexual preference for circumcised men from the standpoint of aesthetics
and hygiene, he said.

Nicoll estimated that routine
circumcision would add an estimated $15.8 million to Britain's annual National Health
Service bill.